The Top 50 Liberal Arts Colleges At a Glance

We updated and ranked this list of the top 50 values in liberal arts colleges for 2010 (how we scored the schools). Clicking on the college names below will show you all of the ranking data. Or, see our top 50 values in private universities. Most of our data come from Petersons, a Nelnet company. Read full story

1 - Pomona College, Claremont, Cal.
2 - Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, Pa.
3 - Williams College, Williamstown, Mass.
4 - Davidson College, Davidson, N.C.
5 - Claremont McKenna College, Claremont, Cal.
6 - Amherst College, Amherst, Mass.
7 - Washington and Lee University, Lexington, Va.
8 - College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, Mass.
9 - Colby College, Waterville, Maine
10 - Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Maine
11 - Middlebury College, Middlebury, Vt.
12 - Haverford College, Haverford, Pa.
13 - Carleton College, Northfield, Minn.
14 - Hamilton College, Clinton, N.Y.
15 - Bates College, Lewiston, Maine
16 - Wesleyan University, Middletown, Conn.
17 - Wellesley College, Wellesley, Mass.
18 - Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, N.Y.
19 - Grinnell College, Grinnell, Iowa
20 - Whitman College, Walla Walla, Wash.
21 - Kenyon College, Gambier, Ohio
22 - Wheaton College, Wheaton, Ill.
23 - Colgate University, Hamilton, N.Y.
24 - Harvey Mudd College, Claremont, Cal.
25 - Macalester College, St. Paul, Minn.
26 - Colorado College, Colorado Springs, Colo.
27 - Bucknell University, Lewisburg, Pa.
28 - Barnard College, New York, N.Y.
29 - Centre College, Danville, Ky.
30 - St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minn.
31 - Wofford College, Spartanburg, S.C.
32 - Lafayette College, Easton, Pa.
33 - Occidental College, Los Angeles, Cal.
34 - Scripps College, Claremont, Cal.
35 - Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio
36 - DePauw University, Greencastle, Ind.
37 - Denison University, Granville, Ohio
38 - Trinity College, Hartford, Conn.
39 - Furman University, Greenville, S.C.
40 - Gustavus Adolphus College, Saint Peter, Minn.
41 - Rhodes College, Memphis, Tenn.
42 - College of Saint Benedict, St. Joseph, Minn.
43 - Connecticut College, New London, Conn.
44 - Illinois Wesleyan Univ., Bloomington, Ill.
45 - Hillsdale College, Hillsdale, Mich.
46 - Beloit College, Beloit, Wis.
47 - Knox College, Galesburg, Ill.
48 - Smith College, Northampton, Mass.
49 - Muhlenberg College, Allentown, Pa.
50 - Thomas Aquinas College, Santa Paula, Cal.